In this 2017 Labor Law 240 action, plaintiff allegedly fell from a ladder at our client’s cooperative building sustaining multiple injuries including seven surgeries. Despite plaintiff’s claim that he fell because the ladder upon which he stood slipped, our office during pre-trial proceedings successfully defeated Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment based on Labor Law 240, which often is construed in favor of plaintiffs in assigning liability to defendants.  Further, despite the absence of an alteration agreement between the cooperative and the unit owner, our office successfully obtained conditional contractual indemnification from the trial court, which was affirmed by the First Department.

Prior to trial our office uncovered significant findings of fraud against the plaintiff.  Despite adverse rulings from the trial court we maintained our position that the accident was staged. The extensive pre-trial proceedings and collateral evidence uncovered included criminal convictions, admissions that the accident claim was fabricated and attempts of extortion. Although many of these findings were excluded by the trial court , we remained steadfast in arguing the fraudulent nature of the claim, which culminated in a defense verdict. The trial in New York County resulted in a unanimous defense verdict with the jury returning in less than an hour.

This was an eight (8) year team effort, which victory could not have been achieved without the painstaking efforts to detail of partners Wendy Cardali and Alisa Dultz and trial counsels John Corring and Sarah Labia. This result demonstrates the interdisciplinary collaboration between our defense, appellate and coverage groups. The defense of this case benefited from FP’s continuous commitment to investigating and uncovering fraudulent claims.  Well done team FP!

To learn more about this result or other ways Fleischner Potash can help your claims team, please contact our Insurance Defense Team.

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